Heel-seat-fitting machine



,1930. F. RICKS ET AL 1,743,482

. HEEL SEAT FITTINGMACHINE Fil N 5, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet l Jan. 14, 1930. F. RICKS ET AL HEEL SEAT FITTING MACHINE Filed Nov 23, 1928 -2 Sheets-Sheet Patented Jan. 14, 1930 UNITE STATES PATENT OFFICE FRED RICKS AND-ALFRED EDWARD RICHARDS, OF LEICESTER, ENGLAND, ASSIGN TO UNITED SHOE MACHINERY CORPORATIOE', 0F PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A. COB- POR-ATION OF NEW JERSEY HEEL-SEAT-FITTING MACHINE Application filed November 23, 1928, Serial No. 321,483, and in Great Britain December 10, 1927.

This invention relates to machines for fitting the heel-seats of shoes to receive wooden heels. The heel-seat fitting operation consists in trimming surplus stock from the p riphery of the heel-seat portion of the sole so that the outer edge of the wooden heel may engage directly against the lasted-in margin of the counter portion of the shoe upper. Good shoemaking requires that the heel-seat portion of the sole be shaped substantially to conform to the concave contour of the heel-seat surface of the wooden heel and, accordingly, it is usual to bevel the trimmed margin of the sole.

The present invention relates to heel-seat fitting machines organized to operate upon the sole after the latter has been attached, for example by a sewn seam, and is, accordingly, secured to its shoe at least up to the heel breast line. It is desirable to effect the heelseat fitting operation without straining or loosening the attaching stitches. Even if the loop of the stitch is severed, the waxed thread ends remaining in the untrimmed portion of the sole are useful as fastening devices. The same thing is true in those cases where paper pegs are used in the heel-seat of tne sole: it is desirable not to disturb the portions of such pegs remaining in the :fitted sole.

lVith these conditions in View, the present invention, in one aspect, comprises improved means for positioning and controlling the margin of the sole to be trimmed without impartingv undesirable strain to the sole attaching m ans. An important feature of the invention contributing to this end consists in a flexible plate arrangedto be inserted between the loose heel-seat )ortion of the sole and the lasted-in margin of the counter and a yielding shoe support, in combination with a positioning member actin upon the sole to locate it in definite position with respect to the path of a trimming knife. Since the shoe support and the inserted plate are both free to move during the positioning operation, the upper surface of the sole may be positively located regardless ofthe thickness thereof and without impartin any appreciable strain to the sole attaching means.

In another aspect, the invention consists invention consists in combining flexible crease plates and a yielding shoe support with trimming instrumentalities which com prise a pair of knives, one upon either side of the shoe, transversely movable inwardly 7 from opposite edges of the sole and so formed that a single reciprocation of the knives bevel substantially the entire periphery of the heelseat of the sole.

Vie have found it advantageous in operating upon certain soles, particularly those in soft temper or of flexible stoclr, to provide means for supporting the margins of the soles against the thrust of the trimming knives. In addition to improving the accuracy of the trimming operation, such means are effective to relieve still further the sole attaching means of strain. Another important feature of the invention, accordingly, consists in a supporting device arranged to move automatically into supporting contact with the margin of the sole preliminarily to the action of the trimming knife. As herein shown, the supporting means is shaped to overlie the margin of the upper and to be brought into its effective position by the same mechanism which actuates the trimming knives and in the initial movement thereof.

These and other features of the invention will be best understood and appreciated from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof, selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a view in front elevation of the machine with certain parts removed;

Fig. 2 1s a plan view, partly in section, of certaln parts shown in Fig. 1;

I V W.

: identified. Those parts herein illustrated, and including particularly by the illustrated machine.

Fig.3 is a view in side elevation of the work support and associated parts; and

Fig. 4 is aplan view of the heel-seat portion of a shoe after its sole has been operated upon The invention is herein shown as embodied in a machine of the type disclosed 'i'nthe'application of Gouldbourn and Ricks above of the machine not the driving mechanism 'for the trimming knives, are similar to the correspondmg'parts of said machine.

The frame 10 of the machine carries a head 12 having a transverse horizontal guidewaygin' which is mounted a pair of slides 15, each carrying an upwardly inclined supporting plate 17 Apair of carrier members 20,

each having a longitudinally extending guideway, a'readjustably clamped'upon the supporting plates 17 by bolts which are re.- tained in arcuate grooves, thus providing means for. angularly adjusting the carrier members. Theslides 15 are arranged to be moved bodily toward each other with their associated mechanism, by mechanism not shown, preliminarily to the heel-seatfitting operation.

Each ofthe holding members 20 carries an inwardly extending plate 18 which, for

convenience, will be termed a crease plate and which is adapted to be inserted between the loose heel-seat portion of the sole and the f lasted-in margin of the counter portion of the upper to the shank and forepart of which the sole is attached Thecrease plates 18 have their adjacent edges cut away at the front so as to'form between them a widemouthed, U-shaped opening, as shown in Fig. 2. The under surfaces of the crease plates'l8 a-rebeveled or concave so that at the edges of the U-shaped opening they are very thin and will stress the sole attaching seam to a slight extent only when they enter between the sole margin and the upper. The crease plates are so designed and mounted that they enter a short way only under the sole margin. They are flexibleand act more inthenature ofupper protecting and sole positioning devices than sole supporting plates. They are, moreover, so Widely gspacedfrom the margin of the top clamp 34 that they do not cooperate tric stud 22 to which is pivotally secured a link 24, connected at its inner end to the forerating levers are operated as the machine of r the prior application above identified by eccentrics, not shown.

Each knife slide 19 knife carriers 60 for a knife 62 having its cutting edge disposed in a substantially vertical plane but including provision for angu also carries a pair of lar adjustment about an axis'parallel to the knife slide. The knives 62 cooperate with the trimming knives 28 in severing the chlp from the heel-seat and limit the bevel cut adjacent to the breast line, forming abutments to be engaged by the breast face of the wooden heel. As willbe apparent, the knives 62 are disposed in fixed relation to the outer margin of the trimming knives'28.

and are angularly adjusted with the latter. 'The machine is provided with an overhanging head 30 in which is mounted a ver-' tically reciprocating plunger 32, carrying at its lower end a top clamp or sole positioning member 34. This is shaped to engage the upper surface of the heel-seat end of thesole and to locate it accurately and positively as to height. The plunger 32 is operated by a lever 36, connected at its outer end to a downwardly extending link 38. The link 38, in turn, is connected to a bell crank lever 40, pivotally mounted in the machineframe and operated by a treadle rod 42. The treadle .r0d42 carries an adjustablestop collar 46 which, when the treadle rod is depressed, engages a positive stop 47 and so'positively determines the lowest point in the travel of the positioning member 34'.

The shoe to be operated upon is mounted upon a work support or jack, comprising 'a base 14 arranged to slide horizontally in i 105 ways formed in the machine frame and carrying a vertically'moving jack post 50. A pin 58 in the base 14 passes through a vertical slot in the post 50 and limits'the movement thereof. The upper portion of the post is bored to provide a socket which is threaded to receive the spindle or stem 52 of a'heel plate 16, the spindle being held in adjusted position by a lock nut 54. A spring 56 is located in the socket between the lower end of the spindle 52 and the pin 58 and normally maintains the post 50 and the heel plate 16 in their uppermost position. heel plate 16 is adapted to support the inside of the heel end of the shoe. Preferably, the forward part thereof is formed as a rib to tilt the heel-seat slightly downwardly at the rear. j i

In presenting a shoe to the machine it is placed upon the jack so that the heel plate 16 supports the inside'of the shoe, the toe of the shoe pointing forwardly. The jack is then pushed rearwardly and the shoe guided so that the inner edges of the crease plates pass between the upper and the sole margin, the shoe being depressed if necessary The against the action of the spring 56. lVhen finally positioned, the shoe is held upwardly against the crease plates only by the action of the spring. The position of the shoe longitudinally is determined, as in the prior machine, by a suitable counter gauge, not shown.

In order to support the margin of the sole against the thrust of the trimming knives, automatic sole supporting means is provided which will now be described. Mounted upon each knife plate 17 is a lug or post 64, having at its upper end a journaled member 66 on which is mounted for oscillation a bent lever 68. Beneath the lever 68, at its outer end, is pivoted upon a pivot 74 a cam roll carrier 72 having in its outer end a cam roll 76. A spring 82, mounted in a boss 80 on the outer end of the lever 68, urges the outer end of the cam roll carrier 72 downwardly as far as it is permitted to do so by an adjustable stop 77 carried by the lever and engaging the lower surface of the cam roll carrier. Each knife-operating lever 26 carries a cam piece 78 with which the cam roll 76 cooperates when the operating lever '26 is swung inwardly to advance its trimming knife.

Each lever 68 has bolted to its inner end an inwardly and downwardly projecting plate 7 0 having a serrated edge shaped to correspond substantially to the shape of the margin of the crease plate 18 and being so positioned as to lie, when in operative position, just within the inner edge of the crease plates. The plates are elevated in their intitial position to facilitate the presentation .of the sole .margin between them and the crease plates. They are swung downwardly into engagement with the upper surface of the sole as the trimming knives 28 begin to advance for the trimming operation and serve to .prevent displacement of the material being cut.

The operation of the machine will be clear from the foregoing dsecription but may be summarized as follows ;.The operator, having placed the shoe in inverted position upon the jack, pushes the jack rearwardly into position between the crease plates. The slides 15 are adjusted in or out as necessary to locate the crease plates beneath the margin of the heel-seat portion of the sole and the treadle rod 42 is depressed, moving the top clamp 34 downwardly until the collar 46 encounters the stop 47. In this position the upper or tread surface of the sole is located accurately in the proper relation to the path of the trimming knives 28. In the downward movement of the treadle rod the spring 44 acts, through the lever 48, to move the jack post 50 upwardly, maintaining the heel plate 16 yieldingly in whatever position may be determined by the position of the top clamp and the thickness of the intervening sole. The spring 44 constitutes .a lost motion connection between the treadle rod and the lever 48, allowing the treadle rod to fully comenters the attaching surface of the sole just 7 above the crease plate 18 and in cooperation V with the shoulder knife 62 removes the chip from one side of the heel-seat, forming the bevel cut 92 in the sole 90, as indicated in Fig. 4. As the knives begin to advance, the cam piece 78 in the operating lever acts upon the bent lever 68 associated therewith and swings the soleedge supporting plate 70 into engagement with the marginal portion of the sole which is to be removed by the trimming knife. The first operating lever is then retracted with the knives on one side of the heelseat and the second operating lever immediately acts to advance similarly the knives on the other side of the heel-seat, thus completing the operation and leaving the heel-seat in the condition shown in Fig. 4. The attaching stitches 94 are severed where they extend to the rear of the breast line but remain in place in the fittediheel-seat. 4 The lasted-inmargin 96 of the counter portion of the upper which underlies the crease plates is completely protected during the reciprocation of the -trimknives. Theoperatin-g levers 26 having both been returned to initial position, the operator releases the treadle rod to raise the top clamp 84 and release the jack postf50, after which. he withdraws the shoe from the machine.

The sole-edge supporting mechanism has been herein described as incorporated in a machine having a yielding shoe support but it will be understood that it is not limited to use in connection with a shoe support but *Inay be embodied to good advantage in a machine wherein the shoe is supported by crease plates, as in the machine oft'he prior appli cation above identified and which includes no shoe support. 4 Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure .byLetters Patent is: I '7 1. A heel-seat fitting machine having, in combination, a yielding shoe support, ;a thin flexible platearranged to be inserted between the loose heel-seat portion of the sole and the lasted-in margin of the counter, a positioning member movable to engage the sole of a shoe on the support and locate its upper surface in predetermined position, the support and flexible plate being meanwhile free to move, and a trimming knife movable in an inclined path to remove the marginal portion of the' sole and emerge at a predetermined location in the surface of the sole. V

r 2. A heel-seat fitting machine having, in combination, a vertically yielding shoe, sup: port, a flexible crease plate, a plunger movable vertically above the shoe support to'engage the sole of a shoe thereon and depress its upper surface to a predetermined position, the

" support and crease plate'being meanwhile free to move downwardly, and a trimming knife movable above the crease plate in a'path inclined to the plate of the shoe sole to remove the marginal portion thereof.

V trimming knives.

3. A heel-seat fitting machine having,in combination, a vertically yielding shoe support, flexible crease plates, trimming knives.

movable in a predetermined path, a sole positioning device located above the shoe sup- 6 port, and means for lifting the yielding shoe support and lowering the positioning device to a predetermined point to locate thesole of a shoeupon the support for the action of the 4. A heel-seat fitting machine having, in combination, a base carrying a vertically movable post having a shoe support, an op positely disposed sole positioning member, a treadle rod connected to said positioning member and acting to move it to a predetermined position, an operating lever for lifting said shoe support post, and yielding connections between said treadle rod and operating lever. 7

5. Aheelseat fitting machine having, in

combinatiomayielding shoe support, flexyible crease plates forming a U-shaped opening and being disposed to be inserted beneath the margin of the sole of a "shoe on the support,

trimming knives associated with the crease plates, and a top clamp movable to position thejupper surface of the sole in a predetermined plane regardless of the thickness of the'sole, the shoe support being meanwhile freely movable and the crease plates readily flexed; V

6. AVheel-seat fitting machine having, in combination, a yielding shoe support, flexible crease plates, and trimming instrumentalities comprisinga pair of knives associated with the crease plates and movable transversely i inwardly from opposite edges'of the sole to bevel substantially the entire periphery of the heel-seat thereof. r V p 7. A heel-seat fitting machine having, in

' combination, means for locating a shoe, trimming knives movable in inclined paths to remove the margin of the heel-seat portion of the sole by a beveled cut, and means for supporting against the thrust of the trimming knives that portion of the sole tobe severed: 8. A heel-seat fitting machine having, 111

combination, a shoe support, trimming knives movable in inclined paths to bevel the mar gin of the heel-seat portion of the sole, and

the sole at points substantially in means for supporting against the thrust of side thereof.

9. A heel-seat fitting machine having, in

combination, a shoesupport, crease plates for engaging the lower margin of the heel-seat of a shoe thereon, sole supporting devices mov-. able toward the sole and into engagement with the upper margin thereof, and trims mingknives mounted to enter the sole edge the trimming knives a curved marginal por-. tion of the heel-seatofthe sole upon either obliquely between the-crease plates and 'the.

supporting devices. 7

10. A heel-seat fitting machine having, in combination, crease plates, reciprocating trimming knives associated therewith, and means mounted beside each trimming knife forengaging and supporting the margin of 7 line withthe path of the'knives. i i f v 11, A heel-seat fitting machine having, in combination, crease plates, reciprocatory trimming knives associated therewith, and a sole-edgesupportintg member mounted adjacent to the path of each trimming knife and movable transversely. thereto to engage the surface of the sole to be trimmed;

, 12. A heel-seat fitting machine having, in: combination, crease plates, reciprocatory trimming knives associated therewith, a lever mounted' adjacent to each'knife and carry mg a sole-edge supporting member, and means for swinging the levers toward the sole as the trimming knives approach the sole.

'13. A heel-seat fitting machine having, in combination, means for positioning a shoe,

knife slides movable in paths oblique to the v sole thereof, a lever mounted adjacentto each slide, a sole-edge hold-down platecarried byeach lever, a cam roll carrier pivotally mounted on each lever, and operating cams actuat mg each of said levers through the cam roll carriers. p p

14. A'heel-seat fitting machine having, in

combination, a shoe support, slides movable upon; the cuttingedge of each knife extending substantially froni'the heel breast line to the rear end of the sole of the shoe,

said knives being arranged to reciprocate one after the other transverselyof the shoe in 1.120 upon oppositesides of a'shoe to beoperated paths inclined from the attaching surface j toward'the tread surface of the sole, and a sole-edge engaging device associated with each knife and acting 1n timed relation thereto for supporting against the thrust of the respective knives that portion of the sole to be removed by each knife.

In testimony whereof We have signed our names to this specification. v

FRED RIGKS. V ALFRED EDYVARD RICHARDS. 

